This will cost up to £3,000 (approx. $4,635 or 4,160 EUROS) depending on when and where you do this combined sailing course.
There may be reduced fees per person if you share a cabin with a friend.
Over two weeks, often including a short stay in a hotel, you will go aboard on Day 1 with little or no sailing knowledge and leave the boat with a range of sailing, seamanship and navigation skills that should enable you to sail safely in daylight hours as a skipper.
Do consider the RYA Day Skipper Theory course in the winter before this as you can come away with a full RYA Day Skipper certification, and can qualify for an International Certificate of Competence, which will allow you to charter boats all over Europe and South Africa.
Until you have the RYA Day Skipper Theory course as well, you should only consider yourself competent to sail on short passages in daylight hours, on a vessel of up to 18 metres.
If you have spent the winter getting the Day Skipper Theory course, you will have a qualification that is recognised all over Europe as a qualification that entitles you to sail passages in daylight and evening hours.
It is a combination of practical and theory.
Ten days of the course are aboard a boat learning practical skills, two days will be in a hotel or training centre while doing the theory side.
You can take this course at sailing schools around the world that offer RYA tuition, meaning that you can do it in most countries.
Click the ‘view courses’ button on this page to find courses near you.
We recommend you consider taking this course over a 2 week summer holiday in the sun!
Although most schools require no prior experience this course is for those wishing to take their initial training further, and go from beginner to experienced skipper within a short timeframe.
It takes 12 days to complete the course, so you will need to book time off work. Consider the course as a 2 week holiday.
For the first week you will do the RYA Competent Crew course that covers the basic skills and techniques involved in sailing a cruising yacht as a crew member. This covers everything from the Rules of the Road to learning to trim and reef the sails, as well as elements of navigation and safety.
Over a weekend you will do the theory side of the RYA Essential Navigation course, covering how to navigate safely in sheltered waters.
The following week you will spend time aboard learning to skipper a boat in daylight hours through the RYA Day Skipper course. You will hone your skills learned in the previous two sections and learn to take command in scenarios ranging from passage making and planning, to man overboard, as well as making decisions on when to tack / gybe and so on. You will also cover the skills and techniques in docking and undocking.
If you have not done it already, do the RYA Day Skipper Theory course to further your knowledge and complete the RYA Day Skipper qualification.
No, but once you have the full RYA Day Skipper qualification you can apply for the International Certificate of Competence which does give you international accreditation.
Further resources and information can be found at;
http://aegeansailingschool.com/courses/12-day-competent-crew/
http://www.rya.org.uk/coursestraining/courses/sailcruising/Pages/default.aspx